How Do You Motivate People in The Digital Age? Try Gamification.

Lately I've noticed a pattern in my work; whether it's a CEO, a small business owner, teacher or parent—the same question keeps popping up: HOW do I motivate today's young person?

Now they are NOT asking me how to motivate a 15 year old. They are talking about anyone who is 40 years of age and younger! This may be confusing to many a Baby Boomer...why is this generation so resistant to growing up? I explain it in detail in my award-winning book Liquid Leadership, but for now, let me give you a simple breakdown:

Remember Bruce Dern and Ann-Margret in the 1980 comedy Middle Age Crazy? Bruce Dern is a 39 year old man about to turn 40. This was considered Middle Age when I was a kid. I was 17 when I saw it and thought he was so old. 40 was light years away for me and I kept asking "why did I have to wind up like him?"

Although it has some pretty harsh language, Bruce Dern's Graduation Speech from the movie is worth watching. And it says it all about this next generation.

Anyone born after 1977 was not raised like Baby Boomers or Traditionalists. They were raised to follow their passion. Live life doing what they want. Question everything. And NEVER give yourself over 100% to a company that doesn't value your contribution. They've been encouraged to speak up and tell their personal truth. Working at one company for 25 years is a waste of time. Where Boomers worked hard and sacrificed to have the good life, Millennials believe that life and work should be in balance. And now we wonder WHY 71% of employees are disengaged.

If you want ENGAGEMENT...and I mean real engagement, I recommend Gamification.

 

So, what is Gamification? Here's my definition:

"Gamification is the use of game-like strategies and tactics to give end-users the incentive to solve problems and preform tasks in order to obtain specific rewards and goals. Many of these action/reward tasks are done without the realization of the person preforming the tasks."

Your credit card company and bank have used Gamification in their rewards programs for YEARS. Airlines use it as well: "fly this many times, redeem your miles for stuff." It's Gamification in action. Simple. It gives people incentive to do more because they get rewarded for their actions.

Now how does this apply to your business? Nicolette Beard says it best on her TopRank® Online Marketing Blog: Gamification as a Content Marketing Tactic — How Brands Are Engaging Consumers. Take a moment to read her work. She lays down the pros and cons of Gamification.

But for me, how can we apply Gamification as a management tool? In my own Cross-Generational work, I recommend micro-incentives to managers and executives. Let the team determine goals and rewards. Meet a deadline, the company pays for a weekend retreat.

What makes it different for us Boomers is we were expected to wait all year for an evaluation and a raise. If we didn't get it, we still stayed with the company. But today, research has found that most people want to be appreciated. If they do not feel so, they leave.  

Time to GAMIFY Your Corporate Incentive Programs.

Gamification gives a shorter cycle of rewards and incentives. Unlike Boomers waiting all year for that raise, or Generation Y getting a trophy for showing up, the shorter Gamification life-cycle requires people to get the work done FIRST before getting a plaque to hang in their office.

Want to achieve what appears to be an impossible goal at your company? Lay out a map. Break it into simple achievable goals for each team. Let the team determine the strategies for getting there. And once achieved, determine the rewards. BEFORE you begin. And get a project manager to oversee it all.

Make it fun. Worth the effort. And EMOTIONALLY engaging! 

Many Fortune 500 companies are using Gamification driven software over their intranets to keep project management transparent and on task.

In order to keep the Next Generation on task and engaged, try Gamification in your company. After all, they are used to it. They've played over 10,000 hours each on some form of video game: Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy, Halo, etc...

Gamification can be used for accelerated learning, ROI, tight deadlines or keeping people on task. 

Let me know how it goes...and don't forget, I can help you set up an incentive program for your company.

Thanks for stopping by...

Brad

Brad Szollose
Global Management Consultant

Cross Generational Leadership Development & Workforce Performance Strategies

Executive Coach

Brad Szollose (pronounced zolis), is a globally recognized Management Consultant and the foremost authority on Millennials and Cross-Generational Leadership Development Strategies.

TEDX Speaker, Web pioneer and the author of the award-winning, bestseller Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia, Brad is a former C-level executive of a publicly traded company that he cofounded that went from entrepreneurial start-up to IPO in three years; the first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company K2 Design, experienced 425% hyper-growth, due in part to a unique management style that won his company the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

 

Today the world’s leading business publications seek out Brad’s insights on Millennials, and he has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Inc., Advertising Age, The International Business Times, and The Hindu BusinessLine to name a few, along with television, radio and podcast appearances on CBS and other media outlets. 
 

Brad's programs have transformed a new generation of business leaders, helping them maximize their corporate culture, expectations, productivity, and sales growth in The Information Age. 

Pick Up Brad's books...Liquid Leadership and the latest...

Journeys to Success: The Millennial Edition. 

#1 Bestseller on Amazon in Hot New Releases!!!

The Difference Between Motivation & Incentives

One of my most Popular Blog Posts:

Image courtesy of mack2happy
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.

Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad Szollose

Global Business Adviser and Consultant
on Millennials and Workforce Performance Strategies


Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

Brad Szollose is a global business adviser on Millennials and the foremost authority on Generational Leadership Development and Workforce Engagement Strategies.

Author of the award-winning, bestseller Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia, Brad is a former C-level executive of a publicly traded company that he cofounded that went from entrepreneurial start-up to IPO in three years; the first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company K2 Design, experienced 425% hyper-growth, due in part to a unique management style that won his company the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

Today, Brad helps smart companies like Dell and MasterCard, understand just how much technology has transformed a new generation, and how that impacts corporate culture, management interaction, expectations, productivity and sales in The Information Age. 

* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

What Is The Difference Between Motivation and Incentives? Try Results As Your First Criteria for Success

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.


Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad Szollose

Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Generation Y:
Understanding How Technology Transforms Culture and Behavior,
and Impacts Management, Interaction
and Expectations 

 

email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century.

Brad Szollose is the foremost expert on Cross-Generational Issues and Workforce Culture, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture, behavior, management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analog driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

The Difference Between Motivation and Incentives

Brad's Best Blog Posts

Image courtesy of mack2happy
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

From December 1st, 2012

One of the biggest problems facing business leaders these days is how to motivate people—I mean REALLY motivate people—getting them excited about their work, willing to put in the extra hours and take each project to the next level. Energy like that is contagious, and believe it or not, not that hard to create.

Now, some of you are thinking...
"Why do I need to motivate people to work? I'm paying them aren't I?"

And I have a counter question:

Would you like a workforce that goes above and beyond
the call of duty, or do you want people
who do only what is asked of them?

I am a Baby Boomer. The first time I heard of something called Results Only Work Environments (ROWE for short) I was cynical. Work is work. deadlines are deadlines. Period. But slowly, I realized that's all people were doing at my companies: working. No one was obsessed with our brand, willing to go the extra mile, putting their genius to work in the success of the company.

So I adapted my personal management style to a new type of workforce. A workforce that is tech-savvy, team driven, passionate about helping the world on top of earning a paycheck. So, how did I tap into that passionate energy? I treated them like a partner, shifted the responsibility to their shoulders, and engaged them in the success of my company.

Now I know, some of you are balking at this, but let's take a trip through history.

Frederick Winslow Taylor invented the concept of an employee in 1903. Factories and assembly-lines needed someone who would show up for a period of time and go home. A worker who obeyed the rules, kept their mouth shut and just assembled stuff. Before the Industrial Revolution, work was seasonal, according to the harvest, and workers moved from town to town. There was no time clock involved.

But for the the Industrial Age to work like a well oiled machine, the workforce needed to do the same. Assumptions were made, and Taylor revealed his arrogance when he exclaimed...

"Workers have 2 inbuilt flaws: they are stupid like an ox, and they are lazy. They will only do the minimum they have to do to not get punished."

REALLY? Sadly, this false assumption continues to this day and is getting in the way of taking us to the next level. Many of today's well-educated, computer savvy, team-driven workers are capable of increasing productivity, IF managed properly. But I bow to my colleagues on this subject...

Tim Askew, founder and CEO of the elite New York and Texas-based international sales execution and consulting firm Corporate Rain International corners the topic of motivation and incentives in his latest blog posting by citing Clayton Christensen, HBS professor and management guru...Tim's take on the subject hits the nail on the head in The Happy Entrepreneur.

Tim's breakdown of Christensen's latest book How Will You Measure Your Life? is exemplary. But and a quote based on a theory articulated by the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg..."Motivation means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful."

Incentives on the other hand, are driven by benchmarks that management sets. Engagement is not part of the paradigm. Rules are what matters: was he/she on time? Did they sell enough this quarter? And ‘What do you want to be paid?’ I have seen many top sales people fired because they were late. The company goes out of business in less than 2 years and the owners wonder why.


Let me break it down even further:

Getting people motivated invites them to voluntarily take responsibility for the success or failure of the company. Their input is to be acknowledged and appreciated as a contribution to the bottom line. And if they fail, it is on the shoulders of the individual. Now isn't this a more adult work environment? Each person learns to self-manage their contributions without a boss standing over their shoulder. Work hard, help us succeed and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Motivation beckons each person to get engaged
in the success of the company.

Incentives, on the other hand, are like a dangling carrot. Yes people will jump through hoops to win, but they are fulfilling tasks only. Obeying the rules? Yes. Pushing? Yes, but not really giving of themselves fully. And guess what else they are NOT doing? Being innovative. Usually in environments like this, people are afraid to rock the boat and bring new ideas to the forefront. Self starters are rewarded because THAT is their nature. Everybody else, just keeps their head down and works.

To be successful in The Information Age, it is important to figure out the secrets of motivation, innovation, creativity and productivity. There ARE new rules. And guess what the top business schools discovered? People are NOT motivated by money.

Engaging today's talent requires leadership to create an environment of support for truth, inspiration and creativity to thrive!  As a friend of mine recently stated "Incentives induces outer action, but a serious lack of engagement eventually follows. Motivation comes from within, and inspires a person to go above and beyond the call of duty." Well said.

Give me a call. I can show you how to move from Rules to Results in a very short time.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work...

Brad

Brad Szollose
Understanding The Millennial Mindset: Multigenerational management expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

Look up these resources when you get a chance:

For more on Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen his Website: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

How Will You Measure Your Life?
By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.

From Amazon...
"In 2010 world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen gave a powerful speech to the Harvard Business School's graduating class. Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

The speech was memorable not only because it was deeply revealing but also because it came at a time of intense personal reflection: Christensen had just overcome the same type of cancer that had taken his father's life. As Christensen struggled with the disease, the question "How do you measure your life?" became more urgent and poignant, and he began to share his insights more widely with family, friends, and students."


The Innovator's Dilemma
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
By Clayton M. Christensen.

From Amazon...
"In this classic bestseller, innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read this international bestseller to avoid a similar fate."




For more information on Tim Askew and Corporate Rain:
Corporate Rain Official Website: http://corporaterain.com/

The Corporate Rain Blog:
http://www.corporaterain.com/blog/

Tim is also the Official Entrepreneurial Blogger for Inc. Magazine! See a list of his articles here: http://www.inc.com/author/tim-askew

I try to bring the very best and up-to-date information to my clients. Tim is on the pulse of bringing entrepreneurial wisdom to the executive suite. Wisdom that works in the real world.

This is powerful stuff, so I suggest you get in there and learn from these experts in the field;-)

PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Generation Y:
Understanding How Technology Transforms Culture and Behavior,
and Impacts Management, Interaction
and Expectations 

 

email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century of Management.

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior… and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

Between The Heart and The Head

Originally from A Captured Mind Newsletter...

Image courtesy of scottchan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Imagine your closest friend decided to move away suddenly in the middle of the night. What would you do? Search high and low or just forget about it? In today’s business environment that’s exactly what has happened: whether a customer or your workforce, people have moved to where they believe there is adventure. 

If you are a Baby Boomer, born between 1946 and 1965, you were raised to obey the rules and follow the system. Authority figures are to be respected. Over a 20-year career you were supposed to get the corner office, a great salary and younger workers were going to look up to you and respect you for all your accomplishments.



How’s that working out so far?
 


Now if you are Generation Y, those born between 1977 and 1993, you’ve been raised to be entrepreneurs, question the old and create the new, and push against authority, question the status quo and never, ever take a job doing something you do not love.



Boomers versus Gen Y is the difference between logic and passion. The head versus the heart. Let me relay a story this month that I feel is important as we try to figure out the nature of business in The Information Age…



Russell Conwell was a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War in 1862. Conwell wrote such graphic and detailed reports of events on the battlefield, that he earned a position as field correspondent for 2 major newspapers immediately after the war.

On one of his assignments, as he accompanied a group of British tourists on tour around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where he met an old Arab tour guide in Baghdad. The tour guide told him the fable that became the foundation of his life’s philosophy—and the cornerstone of his now famous speech, Acres of Diamonds:

Once upon a time, an old Buddhist priest seemed to capture the attention of a young, but wealthy Persian farmer named Ali Hafed. Although Ali had everything he needed— orchards, grain-fields, gardens and a beautiful home for his family—the priest captured his imagination with an amazing story of rich diamond fields of such beauty and wealth, men from all over sought their glistening vistas. What intrigued the farmer the most was that there were so many diamonds, you didn’t even have to mine them…just pick them from the ground. Very little effort with an astounding return. It more than captured the farmer’s imagination, it made him depressed. Even though the day before Ali had been content, he now discovered, that he wasn’t wealthy at all in comparison to one who could own a diamond mine.

The priest continued  to regale Ali…

“if you had one diamond, let’s say, the size of your thumb, from this field, you could purchase the entire county… and if you had a mine of such diamonds you could place your own children into positions of power and influence.”


So, despite all his wealth, Ali Hafed sold his fertile lands, put his family up with a neighbor, and set off for the rich diamond fields…far, far, away from where he lived. 

Although the priest gave him the directions to the diamond fields, Ali Hafed traveled for years, lost everything he held dear, became ragged and destitute, and eventually threw himself into the ocean to die.

Ironically, the new owner of Ali’s land began to explore his newly purchased property. While his camel took a drink from a stream, he noticed a flash of light from the sands under the water. There before him was a small but strange black rock that seemed to contain every color of the rainbow. He placed the rock on the mantle of his fireplace and forgot about it.



You can probably guess the rest of the story…



The old Buddhist priest returned to visit Ali Hafed’s successor, and seeing the stone on the mantle burst out loud from excitement “you found the diamond mine!” For a moment he believed that perhaps Ali had returned. Had he found the fields of diamonds that the priest had talked about? 



The new owner scoffed.  “That’s no diamond, it’s just a rock I found in a stream.” But the old Buddhist priest insisted “I know diamonds, and THAT is the rarest of all…the black diamond!”



They both ran outside digging in the white sand. To their surprise, these black diamonds, the rarest of diamonds, were everywhere!



IF the original owner Ali Hafed had stayed, he would now be the owner of the Golconda Diamond Mine. 



The moral of the story is simple: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Sometimes, actually most times, your own success is not in some lofty business plan or big idea, but right here in your own back yard.



Russell Conwell returned to The United States immediately after he heard that fable…worked for his doctorate and founded Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Conwell realized that his fortune—his Acres of Diamonds—was right in his own backyard of The United States.



As you scramble to learn the keys to success during uncertain times, and from each author and success coach, remember to make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Look into the very people you have known in business for years. Your success is right at your fingertips.



What could you create from what you already have? 




Thanks again,



Brad Szollose
Generational expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior…and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.

The Secret to Innovation: Part 3 of 3

The final installment in our Innovation Series:
Excerpted from Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia, page 125, Isn't Creativity Just For Artistic Types?

People Yearn to Do What We Do Best in the
Service of Something Larger than Ourselves

More and more companies, in order to create a certain level of engagement among their employees, have created a transcendent, purpose-filled work environment where everyone feels as if they are a contributor to something bigger than themselves.

That makes coming to work more enjoyable, and it is also a way to attract and retain talent.

When people have a sense of purpose built into
what they do, you don’t just get an employee—
you get a person’s talent, passion, and full attention.

Most people around the world just show up to a job and do what it takes to get ahead. But real engagement — real, 100 percent commitment — requires a workplace that isn’t just making stuff but, in some way, changing the world. On the other hand, when a company doesn’t have a purpose, they lose their direction and start making both bad products and bad decisions.

Like I’ve said before, change begins within.

Companies that are flourishing in this economy are the ones that inspire their workforce, both inside and out, with a sense of purpose! And the little secret is this: Purpose and profits go hand in hand.

In short, companies that nurture a results-only, creative culture trust their people to be self-directed and give them the training and the challenge so they can do so. Try putting that in a mission statement."

I hope you enjoyed this three week trip through our Innovation Series. Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia helps just about everyone, whether a Baby Boomer, Gen Xer or Gen Yer, I give you the tools to be a better leader in the 21st Century.

Click here for The Secret to Innovation: Part 2 or The Secret to Innovation: Part 1.

Thank you for reading...


Brad Szollose
Award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

If you haven't seen Daniel Pink's Ted Talk, I suggest you check it out...insightful:

PS: If you are interested in one of our white papers entitled... 

What Every Business Needs
to Know About Generation Y:
Understanding How Technology Transforms Culture and Behavior,
and Impacts Management, Interaction
and Expectations 

email us with your name, title and email address.
Your information is confidential.

Ask me how I can help your company evolve into the 21st Century of Management.

Brad Szollose is a management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior…and how that impacts management, interaction and expectations in The Information Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.